Europe’s Team Gigantti is currently placed 2nd with a 5-1 record. With their most recent 4-0 win over team Singularity, Team Gigantti has secured a decent pace going into the LAN finals come October. Tuomo "Davin" Leppanen swung by Esports Heaven to talk about Team Gigantti’s win and qualification for the LAN finals for Overwatch Contenders Season 1 and where his team stacks up against some of the best Europe has to offer.

Thanks for chatting for a bit Davin, how does it feel winning your first 4-0?

No problem. It feels great, that’s for sure!

You’ve now qualified for the LAN Finals in October. Will this be your first time in North America? If so, is there anything you’ve always wanted to do in the US? Any sights you’d like to see?

Yes, this will be my first time there. I’ve always wanted to visit the country and I want to check out the food :D

Jumping into the game versus Singularity, the games were pretty convincing. What was your overall feel from the game? Was there anything you wish you could have done differently?

I think this was our cleanest series so far, we played very well as a team and didn’t do many mistakes. Of course, we want to clean out those mistakes.

Something that I found pretty interesting is that most of your old teammates from Cyclowns have all continued playing for notable teams. If the team stuck together, where do you think Cyclowns would have placed in Contenders Season 1?

I think at our peak we were a top1-3 team in EU and I think we would have done fine. The competition has risen a bit here in Europe with the stakes so it’s hard to say for sure.

Let me ask you this: if there was one thing you could change in Overwatch, be it balance, or spectating or anything at all, what would you change and why?

The spectating in our series at least was pretty good actually. Before that, there would often be a lot of missed plays, but I think they are improving in that regard. Balance wise I would like to see a small buff to McCree and a change to D.Va which luckily is on the way.

With more and more teams being announced for the Overwatch League and as a potential player, what are your thoughts on the idea of a salary cap? For you personally, are you for or against the idea?

Hard to say. I guess if there is a player that is so valuable to a team’s performance that multiple organizations are willing to compete for said player, they deserve the amount they get.

Team Gigantii celebrates a win at ASUS ROG - Summer 2017.

If you had the chance, would you like to stay together with the guys on Team Gigantti for the Overwatch League? What are some of the strengths that Team Gigantti has as an entire unit that makes you guys shine?

I would definitely like to see the whole team in the OWL. Sure a foundation of any good team is having six good players, but the rest comes from team synergy and practice. I feel like we have both. Throwing in a bunch of good players who aren’t compatible doesn’t necessarily make a good team.

I know the format has been an interesting testing ground for Contenders Season 1, so what are your initial ideas having played in the technically ‘second’ season? Are you okay with the four-game set or would you rather have it a simple ‘best-of’ series?

I think this format is good. Maybe even better than best of 3 for the regular season.

As a newly formed team, what advice would you give to someone who is looking to form their own team?

Make sure you have 6 good players who are willing to work on mistakes openly.

What would you say needs to be improved within a newly established Overwatch team first and foremost: personal mechanics or team cohesion and synergy?

All of them matter pretty much equally. Everyone needs to be motivated to improve personally as well as a team.

Before we wrap up if we look ahead towards the LAN Finals, what do you think of the overall competition in Europe? If given enough time, do you think Team Gigantii can take the win over Misfits?

If we do make it to the finals and it is against Misfits it should definitely be more interesting than the first time we played officially. I think it could go either way.

Awesome! Thanks for your time, let the people know where they can find you on social media and what's coming up next for you.

No problem at all :D Next Friday we are going to play our last game of the regular season in Overwatch Contenders and here is my Twitter @Davin_OW.

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLG’s of 2006. He started out primarily following Starcraft 2, Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has transitioned from viewer to journalist and writes freelance primarily about Overwatch and League of Legends. If you would like to know more or follow his thoughts on esports you can follow him at @Volamel.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment and Otto Jahnukainen.